A Champion's Struggle
by Pandamoniam
Summary: When Dina receives an ill-tempered Dimetro from Joe Wildwest, she tries to put up with his disobedience and arguing. However, with the Caliosteo Cup under way and a criminal organization trying to shut it down, she needs him to listen to her more than ever. Sort of an AU.
1. An Introduction of Epic Proportions!

** This is my first time writing something for Fossil Fighters… I'm kind of nervous and excited all at the same time. I'd just like to thank ShayminMarx for inspiring me to do this. Seriously, you rock.**

* * *

The boring day to day monotony of life had over taken the two of them. That is, Dina and Todd. They had always dreamed of finding something that the two of them could do together that could add a pinch of excitement to their lives. Something exhilarating that could send their hearts beating at dangerously fast paces, putting their lives at risk.

Well, Todd always said that he wanted to do dangerous feats. In practice, it was as though he had replaced his normally enthusiastic self with a chicken in a boy costume. Despite this, he still stuck around with his friend, Dina, even at the cost of his own safety.

Dina, on the other hand, was excepting of the rush one gets when skydiving, or the challenge of scaling the sides of mountains. She was a go-getter from the start, and would always dive into whatever she did headfirst. However, she rarely paid heed to warnings along the way and, as a result, would end up having all of her plans backfire. If she were to practice observation a bit more, perhaps she would be able to avoid such disastrous retributions.

Putting their differences aside, the pair searched for a way to get their adrenaline pumping that was relatively safe, for Todd's sake, yet at the same time so intense that it could get Dina sweating. It seemed that such a perfect pastime could never exist, and that the two would always have conflicting hobbies. Then, it happened.

Television broadcasts were beginning to appear more and more frequently, in which real people would duel against each other with living, breathing dinosaurs and ancient mammals known as Vivosaurs. These creatures, while lacking the exact appearance they held before being fossilized, were magnificent to watch. Each one remained unique in appearance, even if it shared the same build as another.

At that moment, Dina and Todd knew they were destined to be Fossil Fighters, controlling Vivosaurs and waging battles against others, just as they had watched so many others do. The creatures never attacked the humans commanding them, but at the same time just watching them through television could make one's pulse increase. It was as though someone had invented the perfect sport for the pair to partake in.

So, when word was spread around town that Vivosaurs were occasionally abandoned at the top of the mountain just a mile away, the two could hardly contain their excitement enough to plan the trek. Soon they were on their way, the great size of the peak barely fazing them.

* * *

For the first time since their journey had begun, Dina took a moment to gaze out at the breathtaking scenery just off the side of an outcropping. Trees could be seen for miles, their rounded tops encircled with a small layer of mist, which the sun reflected off of in a multi-colored splendor. It was hard to believe that this wonderful view was located on the other side of a seemingly dull mountain.

As her auburn eyes took in the dazzling landscape, Dina failed to notice the brunette sneaking up behind her. His lapis lazuli eyes sparkled with mischief as a grin came across his countenance.

"Hey, Dina!" Todd shouted, causing his friend to jump and spin around. He gave his hat a quick adjustment, a smirk beginning to form. "How long are you going to stand around and stare at the scenery? Huh?"

"What's wrong with staring at the scenery? It's pretty sweet!" the pale blonde responded, crossing her arms. After glaring at each other for a moment, the pair broke out in laughter. Neither could remember a time when they had actually been angry at each other, so they liked to joke about it from time to time.

"Are you forgetting about the wild Vivosaurs already?" the green-clad boy exclaimed playfully, causing Dina to roll her eyes briefly. "I mean, wouldn't it be awesome if we found something cool like an Elasmo, or even a Dimorph at the least?"

"Heck yeah it would be!" Dina yelled, hardly able to control herself due to anticipation. She was already beginning to feel her pulse speed up just at the thought. In fact, she was beginning to get a little too much energy. It would be best to get that out of her system.

"Hey, Dina!"

"Yeah?"

"Race you to the top!"

Without waiting for her consent, the energetic 12-year-old bolted up the side of the hill, maneuvering around the blockades set up in front of the path. Once she had realized what was going on, Dina shot up after him, not wanting to be outdone. She was able to catch up with him eventually, but it was a wonder either of them were able to go so fast. Running in boots is very hard to do.

* * *

After about ten minutes of non-stop running, the pair arrived at the summit of the mountain. They leaned over, gasping for air as their heart rates slowed and fatigue wore off. Dina was the first to recover, with Todd joining her a couple of minutes later.

Dina began to search through the vegetation a bit, beginning to feel a sense of dread building up inside of her. If there really were Vivosaurs here, then it was way to quiet. Deafeningly quiet.

The blue-clad girl was about to turn around and warn her friend to stay silent, when a loud shout came from his direction. The stomping that followed it really did not help either.

"Hey… There's no Vivosaurs here! Someone must have lied to me!"

"Todd! Be quiet!" Dina hissed over to him, only to earn a confused look in response. He must not have heard her.

"What?"

"I said, be qui-"

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

The ground shook alongside each booming thump, causing the two the stumble around like drunken men. Once the third tremor had passed, all seemed to go back to the serenity that had surrounded them earlier. The only difference now was that Todd was scared out of his wits.

"W-what was that? W-what's going on?"

_THUMP! CRACK!_

This time the vibration and thump was accompanied by the sound of thick tree trunks being snapped like toothpicks. The sound was coming from directly behind the pair. Todd and Dina simultaneously spun around, noticing the entire side of the woods was quivering now.

"T-there's something in there! W-we'd better get going before it's too late!"

"Todd, I'm sure it's nothing. Let's just see what comes out and then-"

_ROAR! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

A blur of blue and white erupted from the forest, sending trees and bushes flying to the side in its wake. The giant Vivosaur locked its eyes on its prey and roared again, charging at the terrified teens.

"Th-that's an Allosaurus!" Todd screamed, momentarily frozen place. Dina shook him a few times, hoping and praying that his legs would get moving so she wouldn't have to carry him or something.

"RUN FOR IT! WE'RE GONNA DIE! IT WANTS TO EAT US!"

The brunette rocketed away from Dina before she could even comprehend that he was no longer statue-still. The girl was soon to follow him, easily catching up to him within seconds. Soon the clumsy Allosaurus was beginning to fall behind, and Dina began to feel confident that the two of them would survive. Her hopes were washed down the drain when she dug the heels of her boots into the ground, barely able to slow herself enough to not topple off of the cliff before her.

The Allosaurus had managed to catch up to Dina and Todd in the amount of time used to avoid falling to their untimely demise. They were now completely and utterly cornered with no chance of escape. Dina stepped out in front of her quaking friend, hoping to calm him just a tiny but.

"We're going to die! We can either get eaten alive or fall to our deaths! Frankly, I'd rather not do either!" Todd shouted overtop of the Allosaurus's loud breathing as it sniffed at its prey. They were beginning to smell rather salty, and that always made his meals taste better.

"Todd, if you would stay calm I'm sure we can find a way to get out of this!" Dina replied as the giant blue reptile began to close in on them, his maw lowering down to their level. Immediately its body became more rigid; a clear sign the creature was going to lunge for them.

A high-pitched chirrup filled the air as a yellow flying reptile with white and blue markings scattered across it soared into view. Atop its back was a man who resembled a cowboy, who seemed to be directing the graceful creature to fly in close to the two trapped humans below.

"EEK! A Pteranodon!" Todd cried, not sure about which side of Dina he wanted to hide behind now. However, the graceful reptile slowed its flight and came in on a slow glide beside the cliff, clearly not wanting to harm them.

"Hey! There's a person on its back!" Dina added, her hopes beginning to rise. Someone had come to save them! They were going to survive!

"Quick, jump on! Both of ya'!" the cowboy exclaimed, extending his gloved hand out to the pair. Knowing there was a small time window for her and Todd to make the jump, Dina began to calculate the distance between her and the blue eyed man. It was possible.

"Huh?" Todd stared at the reptile and man, clearly not believing his eyes. He was not sure if he could safely jump that far in the first place.

"Get a move on now!" the man repeated, his Pteranodon beginning to fly out of range. They could circle back around if Todd and Dina did not attempt the leap, but the Allosaurus would have made its lunge by then.

"B-but-!"

"Never mind that, Todd! Let's go!"

Dina grabbed Todd's hand and took off running, pushing off of the outcropping with all of her might in an effort to successfully pull both her and her friend the required distance. At first it seemed that the leap had lacked the momentum to make it, and the pair began to lose altitude prematurely. However, the Pteranodon rotated its body just enough for the man to reach Dina's hand, and he pulled the two of them aboard his Vivosaur as fast as he could.

"Yeee-haa! Hold on pards!" the man whooped as a grin came across his face. Todd immediately latched onto Dina, fearing for his own safety. Below, the Allosaurus had made its lunge, missing its prey by a matter of inches. It roared out of pure rage.

Once the Pteranodon was a safe distance away, the man took a moment to turn around and check on his new passengers. Apart from Todd looking as though he was ready to pass out, they seemed to be okay. Nevertheless, he thought it would be a good idea to double check.

"Whew! …You folks alright?"

Todd nodded, his body relaxing as he realized he was safe. Dina reciprocated the gesture, her smile wide after the adrenaline boosting experience. So far, today had been a pretty good day for her.

The Pteranodon lighted down about a mile away from where the Allosaurus had attacked, its wings stretching against the ground to allow Todd and Dina to slide down it. Once his rider had hopped off, the flying reptile disappeared in a flash of light, its body being replaced by a golden piece of metal with green and white trim. The man picked it up, placing it in his pocket.

"…OH MY GOSH!" Todd squealed seemingly out of nowhere, leaving Dina to cover her ears. The man turned around, also startled by the brunette's outburst. "Y-you're… Joe! You're Joe Wildwest!"

Joe nodded, mildly amused by the situation. "Yep, that's me. Surprised you know my handle, kid."

"Of course I know you!" the green-clad boy continued, incredulous of Joe's response. "You're the greatest Fossil Fighter in the whole world! Your Fossil Battle skills are legendary!"

At this point, Todd appeared to be on the verge of exploding, his entire body literally shaking out of pure excitement. He then proceeded to jump up and down a few times in order to express his utter ecstasy.

"I can't believe I'm actually talking to you! This is amazing!" he continued, his blue eyes shining with joy. After a few moments he managed to calm himself down to reason. An embarrassed smile twitched across his countenance. "…I must sound like a real nerd, huh?"

Before Joe could respond, an enraged roar filled the air, its sheer force shaking the ground like thunder. Todd jumped back a couple of feet, completely and utterly terrified once again.

"Wah!"

"That Allosaurus is madder than a sack full'a hornets," Joe pointed out, his voice sounding completely calm as he spoke. "We can't let it leave the mountain all riled up like that, or folks'll be in a heap'a trouble."

"What are we going to do?" Dina inquired, her heart racing. She was hoping for one answer and one answer alone. And if she was lucky…

"Ain't no other choice. We gotta subdue the critter in a Fossil Battle."

And that was it.

"How about it, small fry? Think you're up for it?" Joe asked Todd, assuming that his optimistic fan would be more than happy to assist him. Todd shot Dina an unsure look, quickly looking back to Joe after a few seconds. "I'll even loan ya one'a my Dino Medals for the fight. So how 'bout it?

"Ooooooh! Oh, my stomach! It hurts real bad…" Todd squeaked, his voice even raising an octave near the end to enhance his performance. Joe blinked, clearly surprised at the response. "It must be that rotten banana I ate this morning… Yeah, that's it. Ooooooh…"

"Todd, why would you eat a rotten-"Dina began, only to be interrupted by a particularly loud moan. Todd, still bent over and clutching his stomach, turned towards her.

"I really wanna fight, but I don't think I can. You'll just have to… Ooooh… fight in my place, Dina…"

With a sigh, Dina turned towards Joe. She was used to Todd's antics by now, and decided it was better to roll with them than to get into an argument over it.

"I'll fight in Todd's place, considering how _sickly_ he is," the blonde volunteered, exhilaration replacing her annoyance. Joe grinned, glad to see someone was willing to take him up on his offer.

"Well, fair enough! Guess I'll be lending you my Dino Medal then." Joe reached into his pocket, retrieving four golden disks similar to the one his Pteranodon had turned into. Each one had different color trimming along the edges; one green, one blue, one red, one yellow. "There's four'a them to choose from. Pick whichever one strikes yer fancy."

The four choices were Aerosteon, a Close-Ranged Air type, Toba Titanosaur, a Long-Range Water type, Tsintaosaurus, a Close-Ranged Earth type, and Dimetrodon, a Mid-Ranged Fire type. It took Dina a moment to begin narrowing down her choices due to the initial awe that had overcome her. She was finally going to be a Fossil Fighter. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.

Dina immediately ruled out Toba and Tsintao, knowing that Allosaurus was a fast moving Vivosaur who would quickly overwhelm a slower creature like Toba, and that its strong jaws could rapidly decimate a Support-Type Vivosaur like Tsintao. That left Aeros and Dimetro as possible candidates.

Allo was a Neutral-type, leaving it free of weakness, and failing to help her narrow down choices. From there Dina began to delve even further into her small amount of Vivosaur knowledge.

_"Okay, so I think Allo is a Close-Range Vivosaur, meaning that matching it up with another Close-Range Vivosaur would help it get a lot of damage dealt. That would rule out Aeros. But Aeros has much higher attack then Dimetro. Then again, Dimetro has higher defense…"_

Another roar rattled through the air accompanied by the tremors of the Allo's footsteps. Dina cringed, realizing that she needed to make her decision soon. After skimming through her mental notes, she made her final choice and snatched the Dino Medal of her chosen Vivosaur.

"Grease my pants and call me slick! That's a fine choice there, small fry!" Joe grinned encouragingly. Dina beamed, glad to see that someone as strong as Joe Wildwest thought she had made a good decision. She opened her hand, scrutinizing the red and white edged Dino Medal.

"Now remember, once ya throw that Dino Medal at the Allosaurus, yer Vivosaur will be unleashed." Dina was snapped out of her thoughts as Joe began to give her a quick pep talk. She looked up to him, ready for his inspiring words.

"The strength of a Fossil Fighter depends on how much of a bond they build with their Vivosaurs. So make sure y'all trust each other, and try to have some fun. All right?"

"How could I not have fun?" Dina smirked, clutching Dimetro's Dino Medal tightly in her fist. At that exact moment, the Allo erupted from the woods. Rage was clearly etched across its gargantuan face, and its eyes seemed to be bugged out of its head.

The blonde glanced down at her hand, her mind retreating back to Joe's words. If a strong bond with their Vivosaurs was what made Fighters strong, then that would mean she needed to be close to this Dimetro, even if it was for a short period of time. Perhaps she could give it a name.

_"How does Malchior sound?"_ Dina inquired of the Vivosaur mentally. She was not really searching for a response, but instead did not want to embarrass herself in front of Joe.

_"Sounds pretty tough."_

The brown eyed teen blinked a couple of times, unsure if she had just heard something or not. With a shrug, Dina completely pushed any such thoughts from her head and began to wind up like a baseball pitcher. She aimed for the spot directly in front of the enraged creature, then threw the Dino Medal as hard as she could.

Before the Medal could touch the ground, an other-worldly glow overtook the piece of golden metal, growing more and more luminous with each passing second. Dina used one of her arms to shield her eyes as the light expanded similarly to an explosion, the force of its growth almost knocking her off of her feet. A red lizard with bright yellow eyes materialized in front of her, a large dorsal sail protruding from its back elegantly.

_"We're up first, boss,"_ the same gruff voice from before stated, causing Dina to look around herself once again. Joe took note of this, coming up to her side in order to explain to her the strange phenomenon occurring.

"You hearing voices, small fry?"

"Err… Yeah, why?"

"When a Vivosaur and a Fighter first form a bond, they can communicate mentally. It helps 'em connect more."

_"Even I knew that," _Malchior snorted, rolling his eyes. His voice caused Dina to snap back into focus, ready to continue the battle.

"Right. Use Dimetro Fang!" Dina exclaimed, sifting through her mind to recall what a Dimetro's first attack was. Malchior hurtled forward, dodging Allo's giant maw and sinking his small, pointy fangs into the larger Vivosaur's neck. It let out a roar of pain and yanked its head from side to side, throwing the red lizard off of itself and sending him tumbling away.

Allo then charged Malchior, sinking his teeth into the quadruped's tail and throwing him across the clearing. This attack was not as effective as Malchior's Dimetro Fang was, but it still bruised the smaller carnivore. The dorsal-sailed creature was surrounded in a blue-ish glow for a moment before he stood up and shook himself off like a dog.

"All right, Malchior! Hit him with another Dimetro Fang!" the blue-clad girl shouted, excitement coursing through her entire being. Malchior rolled his eyes briefly, then charged the Allo. This time his fangs dug into one of the blue and white Vivosaur's arms, causing it to howl once more and shake off the smaller reptile. Instead of retaliating as it had done last time, the Allosaurus let out deep whimpers from the back of its throat, almost as if it was regretting its actions.

The creature then disappeared in a bright flash, reverting down to a Dino Medal trimmed with a pure white line. Joe jogged over to where the Dino Medal had appeared and picked it up, returning back to Dina with a grin on his face.

"Hot dang! That Allosaurus finally calmed down and went back into its Dino Medal!" he hooted, holding the metal object out in front of him for Dina to see. Sure enough, the image of the Allosaurus was at the center of the golden Medal looking almost as ferocious as it had during battle. "Nice job, small fry! You did real good."

"Thanks!" Dina replied, the compliment causing her to feel even more proud of herself. She could hear Malchior protesting in her head that he had done all the work, but tried her best to ignore him.

"You ran that Fossil Battle like a pro, Dina!" Todd added, joining his friend and Joe from where he had been 'suffering' from a stomachache. He threw her a thumbs up, obviously impressed. "You're awesome!"

"So Todd, what happened to your stomachache?" the blonde replied, her recent victory making her feel a bit full of herself. Todd took a step back, his eyes wide as he realized his small slip up.

"…Huh? Err… Hey! My stomach doesn't hurt anymore," the brunette gulped, earning skeptical glances from his other two companions. "But who care about that now, am I right? You were awesome, Dina!"

"Never mind…" Dina sighed, turning to Joe. Malchior had meandered over to her side, and was now staring expectantly at the older cowboy, almost as if he anticipated a speech. Sure enough, Joe peered down at the Medal in his hand and opened his mouth.

"This Allosaurus was abandoned by a cruel Fighter. Reckon that's why he had his shorts in a bunch," Joe began, closing his hand into a fist around the Medal. He lowered it to his side, causing the Dimetro beside Dina to roll his eyes. "Vivosaurs need to be with Fossil Fighters they know they can trust. If they're abandoned, they go feral and their true nature emerges."

"So this isn't the first time this has happened?" the blue-clad girl gasped, causing Joe to shake his head. He pocketed the Allo's Dino Medal, then continued.

"People have been chased by rogue Vivosaurs more often than ya'd think. Some of them weren't as lucky as you," the older Fighter explained, causing the mood to darken. Malchior growled at him, prodding at Joe to make him continue.

"But that's why I'm here, actually. The Fighters Association asked me to round up rogue Vivosaurs so that this type of thing doesn't happen again."

After a few moments of silence, Joe's eyes widened and he slapped himself on the forehead. An awkward grin slowly twitched into place and he laughed nervously.

"Aw, shucks. Where are my manners? You know this already, but I'm Joe Wildwest, and I'm a Fossil Fighter."

"My name's Dina Ryūka! I'm going to become an amazing Fossil Fighter when I get older!" Dina beamed, her chocolate brown eyes glistening with determination. Joe nodded, taking note of her apparent ambition.

"I'm Todd Tocchi, and Dina's my best friend. We always cheer for you on TV, Joe!" Todd added, throwing an enthusiastic fist into the air. "We're going to be great Fighters one day, just like you!"

At this Joe let out a small bit of laughter, clearly a bit embarrassed by the situation. "Aw, shucks. You small fries are gonna make me blush. But y'all oughta aim a little higher. Don't try to be as good as me." He paused for a moment, seemingly for effect. "…Try to be _better_!"

Dina and Todd were dumbstruck for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Try to be better than Joe Wildwest? Was that even physically possible?

Joe chuckled at their expressions knowing full and well that they would grow fond of this idea eventually. For now, they would try to wrap their minds around this newfound principle.

"Well, I s'pose I should think about seeing you two home, but I ain't quite done with my job yet," Joe started, placing one of his hands on each of their shoulders. This snapped them out of their trance, allowing them to listen like normal children. "I've still got one more Vivosaur that needs rescuin', ya see? But y'all seem pretty capable, so I trust ya can make it home."

At this Joe turned to leave, only to hear Malchior shoot a cranky growl in his direction. Immediately the brunette turned around, whacking himself on the forehead again.

"Aw, bacon! I durn near forgot that Dino Medal I loaned ya!" he scolded himself as he walked back over to Dina. In a flash of light the Dimetro was a Dino Medal once more, which Dina picked up and held out for Joe to take.

"Here you go," the blonde smiled weakly, feeling a bit sad that Malchi- Dimetro had to go so soon. She had enjoyed fighting alongside him, even if it had been only for a few moments.

The older man took notice of her saddened state and, instead of taking the Medal, pushed her hand holding it closer to her. Dina blinked a few times, her brain failing to believe the information her eyes were sending to it. Joe was letting her keep it?

"Tell ya what, Dina. What say you keep it as my way of sayin' thanks for all the help?" Joe offered, causing Dina to grin from ear to ear. However, instead of giving a verbal reply she lunged forward and hugged him with all her might, so incredibly thankful for the gift.

"Aw, man!" Todd whined once Dina had awkwardly released Joe from her death grip. His friend turned towards him, a smirk upon her countenance. "If only my stupid stomach hadn't started hurting…"

"Listen up, small fries!" the older brunette interrupted, causing the two to turn towards him. He grinned, shooting them a thumbs up. "If you love yer Vivosaurs and share their passion for Fossil Battles, then y'all can accomplish anything!"

"Right!" Dina yelled, while Todd just nodded. She could hear Malchior give a hesitant agreement mentally before he began to rant on about humans taking all the credit.

"I look forward to the day ya both become proper Fossil Fighters," Joe smiled, ruffling Dina's hair and wiggling Todd's hat around his head before turning to go. "But for now, I gotta mosey on down the trail."

He then began to stroll away, stopping about ten feet away and turning around, sending a quick salute in their direction.

"Adios!"

Todd waved until Joe was out of sight, his arm flopping down to his side as an excited look popped up on his face. He shook Dina's shoulder until she turned around to face him, her features just as hyper as his.

"Wow! We just got advice from Joe Wildwest himself!" Todd screamed, his legs shuffling rapidly in an effort to release some of the excess energy he had built up after listening to Joe for so long.

"Yeah, and I just got a Vivosaur from him!" Dina inserted, seeing exactly where her friend was going with this.

"No choice now, Dina. We have to become Fighters!"

"Heck yeah we do! Otherwise the Dimetro he just gave me would sit around and collect dust!"

_"I wouldn't collect dust. Trust me,"_ Malchior growled threateningly, his grouchy voice holding a dash of amusement to it.

"Yeah, I know you want to be a Fighter. But not as much as I do, because the next time I see Joe I'm going to be a full-fledged Fighter!"

"You know it!" Dina shouted as the duo threw their fists up into the air, ready for any challenge they would have to face, any mountain they had to climb.

_"Why do you guys keep throwing punches at the sky?"_

* * *

***Todd and Dina's last names are the first names they would have had in the original Japanese games**

**I've never done a RePlay Fanfiction before… I hope I did alright… **

**Just as a heads up, there will be a few changes done in the plot that won't affect the overall outcome of major sections of the plot, and are mostly done just to make things more interesting. Hopefully everyone will enjoy them.**

**Drop me a review to let me know how I did for my first RePlay and first Fossil Fighters Fanfiction. Hopefully I did well, but that's just my standpoint. Reviews are for letting me know what the world thinks.**


	2. Sign Up!

_**2 Years Later…**_

"Dina, hurry up! We're already late as it is!"

Todd rounded a corner soon after yelling this, his mind too preoccupied to care that his friend was literally right behind him. The two of them had gotten lost on their way to the helicopter station where they would be taken to the Caliosteo Islands, so they were barely going to make the final flight as it was. Though it was policy for the pilots to wait thirty minutes before leaving without passengers, they were pushing being twenty five minutes late.

"I'm not lagging, Todd!" Dina shouted back, indignant. It was times like these that she wished she was fast enough to run past him just to show she was not falling behind. However, Todd had always been rather good at running. It came with being timid.

With another turn, the helicopter came into sight. Todd instantaneously increased his speed and reached the machine just as the propeller began to rotate. He swung the door open and climbed inside, Dina following suit seconds later.

"It took you long enough," the pilot snorted from up front. He did not receive a response, as the two teens were currently panting in an attempt to catch their breath. "Remember to buckle up."

Two sharp clicks were heard after the statement, signifying the pair had listened to him. With that done, the pilot began to direct the helicopter into the air, jostling his passengers around for a moment as the machine reached equilibrium.

Todd leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed behind his head. Immediately he felt something brush up against his elbow. Turning his head to see what it was, the brunette let out a startled yelp and jumped away from the newly discovered object. A third passenger.

The teenaged boy hardly seemed to notice Todd's shriek, most likely due to the earphones blaring music loud enough for both Dina and Todd to hear. On top of that, his sharp blue eyes were glued to the gaming system in his hands, and his black and red hair was smoothed down over his eyes. It was a wonder he could even see what he was doing.

"H-hey Dina, mind trading seats with me?" Todd inquired after a moment of awkward silence. The blonde smirked, shaking her head stubbornly.

"Nah, I've grown rather attached to the seat I'm in right now," she replied, sniggering as a desperate look formed on his face. She could tell that he was intimidated by the older boy, who was probably around sixteen, just because of the dark color scheme he was clad in. And probably the spiked choker on his neck. That thing _was_ kind of scary at first glance.

"B-but-! He's just-! I mean-!" Todd struggled to find words he could use to describe the strange teen beside him that would not be offending if heard. With his music as loud as it was, Dina doubted that he could have heard Todd even if he had wanted to.

"Why don't you just try talking to him or something? He can't be that scary," Dina suggested after a moment of Todd's abruptly ending sentences. He seemed even more terrified of this idea, but it quieted him down for about an hour. Well, she assumed he had been quiet. After the first ten minutes had passed by, she may or may not have zonked out.

Though he had originally been planning on sleeping through most of the flight, Todd found that it was impossible for him to get any shut eye with the older boy seated beside him. He was more unnerving up close, so it was understandable that Dina would think he was just being cowardly. But from where he was sitting, Todd could practically feel some sort of negative emotion radiating off of the guy. It was giving him chills.

Eventually Todd worked up the courage to say something. He did not just want to sit there and look like an idiot next to the guy. After all, he would probably have to face him later in the Caliosteo Cup, which the helicopter was taking them to. It was better to get to know him now.

"Hey, uh… This may come off as kind of a weird question, but what's your name?" the brunette asked the older male. All he got in response was silence, and the sound of some unknown instrument being played through the stranger's earphones. With great trepidation, Todd reached over and gave the teen a quick shove. Immediately his pupils shot over in Todd's direction, and he rotated his head just enough to be considered looking in the brunette's general direction. One of his hands reached up and plucked one of the earphones out of place so he could hear.

"What?" The teen's voice sounded tired and extremely grouchy. There was something else buried in his reply, but Todd really didn't care. He was already beginning to wonder if he should even ask his question.

"Err… W-what's your name?" Todd repeated after a moment of thought. At this the dual-colored haired teen rolled his eyes and returned his gaze back to his game.

"Eloc. Eloc Skull."

Todd visibly shuddered at this, his eyes widening with fear. Even his name was terrifying. He immediately began shaking Dina back into consciousness, hoping that if he could talk to her he could forget Eloc was even there.

"Dina! Dina, wake up!"

_"Up and at 'em, girly!"_

Malchior's voice was what ended up waking Dina. She hadn't heard him speak in so long that his deep voice was almost unrecognizable. It was like waking up to snow in Hawaii, in a way.

"Wha-?"

"You fell asleep," Todd stated simply as the blonde began to rub her chocolate eyes. She could feel Malchior roll his eyes mentally somehow. It was a rather strange sensation.

"And you didn't?" Dina replied, causing her friend to shoot a quick glance in Eloc's direction. Of course. He was too nervous to sleep.

"Dina, his name's Eloc Skull. How is that _not_ terrifying?" the brunette whimpered in a hushed voice. At this the blonde groaned, still feeling a bit groggy from her recent nap and, as a result, was less compassionate for her nervous friend.

_"Tell him to suck it up. The kid's not going to hurt him,"_ Malchior stated forcefully to his Fighter. It seemed as though his usually crotchety attitude still remained despite the tender care Dina had provided him with. Still, he was speaking to her again. That was always a good sign. It was probably the fact that he was getting to fight in more serious battles now that was making him a bit chattier than usual.

"Why don't you try focusing on the Cup? That always cheers you up!" Dina responded, completely blowing off her Dimetro. She heard him snort out of annoyance, but made little effort to apologize to him. Then again, he really didn't need to be apologized to in the first place.

"Right!"

Todd squeezed his eyes shut as he began to picture what he was expecting the Cup to be like. His body began to quiver once more, but this time it was out of excitement. He let out an ecstatic shout and balled his hands into fists, alerting Eloc that the brunette was about to begin moving about. He immediately pressed himself against the door so that he was out of Todd's range.

"Oh yeah! I can't believe we're finally going to become Fossil Fighters!" Todd squealed, enthusiasm coursing through his veins. Dina heard Malchior let out a groan. It seemed as though her partner was allergic to anyone energetic. "I can hardly wait!"

"Technically we already were Fossil Fighters since we had to fight our way through the preliminaries, but I get the gist of it!" Dina shouted as well, her mind finally becoming fully awake. Once again her energy returned, and Malchior all but silenced himself.

_"Not you, too…"_

"We're going to be competing in Joe's very own tournament, the Caliosteo Cup! Of course, we just call it the Cup, because all of the cool people call it that and we _are_ pretty cool," the brunette smirked, crossing his arms for emphasis. Dina laughed at this, glad to see her friend was calmed down once again.

_"Please! You two are about as cool as beach sand on a sunny day!" _Malchior interrupted, his negative interjections once again ignored. He was beginning to wonder if he should talk at all.

"Just think of all the amazing Vivosaurs we'll find! Malchior is pretty awesome, but I'd love to have more than just him!" Dina exclaimed, a grin spreading across her countenance. She could feel Malchior smirking at this point, his red skin soaking in the compliment like it would sunlight.

"I know what you mean! Joe would be amazed if he found out we made it through the preliminaries and all the way to the actual Cup! And best of all, we'll probably meet him there, too!" Todd grinned, his mind wandering off on a small tangent. He was silent for a moment as he contemplated the possibility. "Do you think he'd remember us?"

"Not sure. But it would be pretty sweet if he did!" Dina replied, giving her friend a high-five. She was now more psyched than ever about getting to the Caliosteo Islands.

_"Knowing Joe, he would definitely remember you two. Not that I care, or anything," _Malchior butted in, making Dina feel even better than before. She peeked out the window, scanning the scenery for any signs of land. Sure enough, the Caliosteo Islands were coming into view.

"Todd! I can see them!"

"Really!? Let me see!" the brunette shouted, climbing over top of his friend and staring out the window. His eyes shone with joy as he retreated back to his seat, his legs kicking at the floor in an effort to release his pent up excitement.

"Can't you fly any faster?"

"Can't you wait five minutes?"

Todd was immediately silenced by the crabby reply from the pilot. He could understand why the guy was grouchy, though. Who knows how many shifts he had flown with people just as excited as Todd?

Eloc seemed to take note of his fellow passengers' ecstasy and began to collect together all of his electronic things, putting them away in the backpack he had brought with him. He glanced over at them again before rolling his eyes. How annoying.

"Would you two mind shutting up?" the blue eyed teen grumbled, causing Dina and Todd to whip their heads over in his direction. The brunette froze, his mouth instantly slamming shut. Dina just glared at him.

"I would, actually. You might not be super excited about the Cup, but Todd and I are! We have the right to be this pumped!" the blonde replied, earning loud 'humph' from the older boy. She was not exactly sure why he was being so negative about arriving at the Caliosteo Islands, but she was not about to let that stop her from having a good time.

Eventually the helicopter came to rest on the landing pad, and one of the doors was swung open by the staff member outside. She smiled at them, waiting patiently for the three to come out.

At this point, Eloc already knew he was becoming quite irritating, so he decided to kick it up a notch. He began to stretch out each of his limbs as painstakingly long as he possibly could. Todd began to whine a bit, almost like a dog, but he was too unnerved by Eloc to actually say anything to him.

Eventually the teen hopped out of the helicopter, and had barely moved out the way before Todd leaped down. The brunette stumbled around for a moment as he regained his balance. Dina followed soon after, though she did not stagger as much as Todd did.

The machine took to the skies the second the door was closed, the propeller whipping around Dina's hair and forcing Todd to keep ahold of his hat. Eloc shot the pair one last irritated glance before wandering away, not even bothering to listen to the attendant's greeting.

"Welcome to the Caliosteo Fossil Park, a place filled with prehistoric dreams, dinosaurs, and adventure!" the woman grinned, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "This park was founded by none other than Joe Wildwest, the superstar Fossil Fighter. It's composed of three islands: Ribular Island, Cranial Isle, and Ilium Island. Visitors are welcome to excavate fossils and revive as many Vivosaurs as they like. And of course, there's plenty of time for Fossil Fighting! But for now, please make yourselves comfortable in lush, green Ribular Town!"

_"I already know all this,"_ Malchior stated plainly, his voice laced with boredom. As badly as his Fighter wanted to whack him over the head, she knew letting him out of his Dino Medal for that sole reason would probably be frowned upon. Instead, she chastised him mentally for a few minutes while Todd gaped at their surroundings.

Suddenly, a loud ringing sound entered the air as the intercom adjusted itself. Dina and Todd covered their ears as the high-pitched creaking filled the area.

_"Attention all Fighters participating in the Caliosteo Cup. Registration will be ending shortly, so any Fighter who has yet to enroll should head over to the Fighter Station and do so as soon as possible. Thank you."_

_ "You two sure are running behind today, aren't you?" _Malchior chuckled, causing Dina to roll her eyes.

"Wah! They're gonna end Registration soon! We've gotta hurry over to the Fighter Station!" Todd exclaimed, looking around hysterically. The attendant tapped on his shoulder after a few seconds of his manic search.

"The Fighter Station is right behind us," she smiled, turning Todd around and pointing at the large building. "The Fighter Station is also where you can clean fossils and is home to the Fossil Stadium, where most Fossil Battles are held."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Todd shouted, bolting off towards the building without a second thought. His friend ran after him a few seconds later, entering the front door at about the same time as him.

The pair walked into the main room, surprised at how large it was inside. There was a second story to the building with two staircases leading up to it, and a ridiculous amount of doors. However, their attention was focused on Eloc, who was currently talking to the receptionist.

"That must be where we need to sign up at!" Dina grinned, dashing past Todd and coming to a halt beside Eloc. The teen either failed to notice her or simply ignored her presence. Either way, he continued speaking to the young woman.

"So you'll make sure to let me know if anything comes in for me?" he asked, seemingly confirming whatever they had been discussing earlier. She smiled and nodded, holding out her hand and dropping a key in his.

"Of course! Just remember to follow the rules and we'll remember to tell you if a letter comes in!" the receptionist chirped, earning the faintest of smiles from the teen. He turned around and, after sending a glare in Todd's direction, began to walk out the front door of the Fighter Station.

_"I like that kid,"_ Malchior smirked, and Dina could feel his golden eyes shine with approval. _"He knows how to keep little greenie in check."_

_ "What did Todd ever do to tick you off?" _his Fighter counteracted, causing her Vivosaur to snort in response.

_"He was born."_

_ "That seems a bit harsh."_

_ "Too bad. It's the plain truth."_

"Excuse me, miss. Can I help you?"

Dina shook her head a few times, her mind returning to the current day and age. The receptionist was giving her a concerned look. She was beginning to wonder how long she had actually been talking to Malchior.

"Err… Yeah. My friend and I need to sign up for the Cup."

"Alright-y, then! I'm going to need your names so that I can confirm that you completed the preliminaries," the young woman replied, grinning as she pulled out a clipboard and pen from beneath her desk.

"Sweet! I'm Dina Ryūka!" the blonde exclaimed, reciprocating the older female's smile. The woman checked the list, leaving a checkmark next to Dina's name.

"And I'm Todd Tocchi!" her friend butted in, jumping up next to Dina. The receptionist left a mark beside his name as well, then returned the clipboard to its spot under the desk.

"All right, you two are all set!" she paused for a moment as she turned around a grabbed a couple of things. She then handed Dina and Todd keys, which each bore the numbers 144 and 145 respectively. "These are the keys to your tents. Make sure to check up on them before you head out to do any digging."

_"Spectacular. These crazy people think it's a good idea to stuff hormone crazed teenagers of different genders in extremely close proximity for twelve hour periods. That doesn't ever backfire. Nope, not at all."_ Though Malchior had been addressing the fact in general, Dina still felt the need to shout 'he's just a friend' back to him mentally. This only seemed to prod at her Dimetro's temper even more.

_"No der, Sherlock. I've been in your head for two years, I know that."_

_ "I just thought I'd make sure you knew that."_

_ "Well, I did. I bet that Eloc kid wouldn't have responded like that."_

_ "You're right, he wouldn't have. He's a guy."_

_ "Well, aren't you little miss smarty pants? I guess Einstein wasn't really a genius! It was you all along!"_

"Dina!"

"Wha-?"

"Are you even listening?"

Dina blinked a few times, her eyes widening as she noticed the human being who had recently appeared. She was a brunette with her hair tied back into a ponytail, and wore a black shirt with a yellow and blue one overtop it, which seemed quite unnecessary in the pleasant temperatures of Ribular Island. The rest of her attire consisted of a lime green bandana tied around her neck, light blue pants with electric blue stripes, and yellow tennis shoes.

"It's all right," she smiled, making Dina feel a lot less awkward. It was already bad enough that she had failed to detect the woman. She did not need her to then go and bother her about it.

"Well, I'm Stella, the staff leader here on Ribular Island," the woman continued, barely missing a beat. "You two were a bit late in the sign up, but that's okay! We'll just start the tour at the most important place and work our way over to the less vital places later. Just follow me!"

Stella then strolled past Dina and Todd, leading the duo towards a door to the right of the receptionist's desk. Todd looked as though he would burst out of excitement at any moment.

"The most important place!?" the blue-eyed boy squealed, causing Dina to snicker a bit. His voice could get rather high when he was enthused. "What do you think that is?!"

_"I already know what it is,"_ Malchior grunted, his foul temper ruining the mood once again. Still, Dina tried her best to ignore him and keep her conversation going.

"I have no idea! That's the best part!" Dina grinned, shooting her friend two thumbs-ups. Her Vivosaur groaned and, as strange as it was that she could tell, smacked one of his clawed feet against his head.

_"You know what, kid? I'm just gonna take a nap. Wake me up when we're going to fight something."_

_ "That's fine by me."_

As the small group of three stepped into the room Stella had led them to, Dina and Todd immediately felt their jaws drop. The sheer amount of technology was far beyond what they had been expecting. Sure they had heard about rooms like this from people around town, such as the boy that had given Todd a Stego, but this was just… Amazing.

"Welcome to the most important place for Fighters: the Cleaning Room," Stella exclaimed as she motioned to the entire room. That would explain why there was so much tech.

"That's some pretty high-tech stuff!" Todd shouted, astonished. It was hard not to be. This was where Vivosaurs were revived at!

"Yes, we try to stay up to date," she explained in a calm fashion, which seemed to surprise Todd. Then again, this was the first time he had been in there. It was easy to be overcome with awe. "As such, these machines may be different than what you're used to."

"Are you kidding me!?" Dina snorted, the shock of her surroundings finally beginning to wear off. "I've only cleaned fake fossils for practice! I'm not used to any type of machinery!"

"Well, in that case…" Stella wandered off for a moment, returning seconds later with a large fossil rock in her arms. She placed it on the cleaning table, holding out a hammer and drill for Dina to take. "Why don't you try cleaning one for real?"

"Oh heck yeah!" the blonde shouted, charging forward and snatching the implements from the staff leader. She positioned herself over the brown rock, ready to clean it. "Start that timer up!"

Dina hurriedly set to work cleaning the fossil, cleaning it incredibly close to perfection. There was just one little dink in a horn left over once she had finished. Oh well. It only knocked her down a point.

"Move out of the way, Dina!" Todd blurted out as he pushed her to the side, eager to clean a fossil as well after watching his friend do it. Stella hauled out another rock for him, stepping to the side as to allow him to get to work.

While he left a few more bits of damage than Dina, Todd still managed to get in the Smashing Success category with his cleaning job. Stella seemed to be impressed, so she quickly put herself to work on getting the revival machine set up.

"Excellent job, you two!" the brunette praised the two as she took their respective fossils and placed them in the revival machine. She pressed a few buttons, causing the fossils to glow momentarily before vanishing from their former positions. "Now let's get these fossils revived!"

Twin beams of light shot out of another part of the machine, leaving two Dino Medals in their wake. One had blue and white trim, while the other had green in place of the blue. Stella picked up the two Medals and handed the blue and white one to Dina and the green and white one to Todd.

"Once revived, a Vivosaur primarily sustains itself as a Dino Medal," Stella explained as the duo stared at the Medals they had been given. "Dina, your fossil revived into a Tricera. Todd, yours is a Spinax."

"Awesome!" both teens yelled in unison as they shared a high-five. They turned their attention back to their new medals, obviously excited.

_"Ugh… What happened?"_ a new, male voice asked from within Dina's head. She assumed it belonged to her new Tricera.

_"Welcome to the 21__st__ century," _Malchior replied, his voice sounding deeper when compared to the Tricera's. _"Being revived feels like crap for the first hour, but after that it's smooth sailing."_

_ "Sailing?" _the creature wondered aloud. At this Malchior sighed.

_"Don't worry about it, kid. Your mind will eventually be caught up to date with modern ideas and such just by being connected to our Fighter."_

_ "Well, if I can't fight with you for a while yet, I might as well give you a name," _Dina interrupted. The Tricera yawned in response. Being revived must feel like jet lag. Or only getting an hour of sleep. _"How does Trigon sound?"_

_ "Whatever you say…" _Snores came soon after this statement, and Dina decided that it would be good to leave Trigon undisturbed for the time being. It would be in her best interest to just go through the rest of the tour, then check up on her new friend.

"Now I'll explain the rules we use for Fossil Fighting," Stella spoke up, snapping both teens out of their thoughts. "Let's head over to the Fossil Stadium."

_"Did I hear 'Fossil Stadium'?" _

_"Yes, Malchior. You did."_

_ "Heck yeah! Walk faster, Dina!"_

At this Dina smirked. Her first Vivosaur was finally beginning to enjoy the Cup just as much as she was. That only left one grumpy person left – Eloc. But she didn't know him, so for all she knew he was just tired.

Stella led the duo to the door on the opposite side of the receptionist's desk. Malchior let out excited shouts that grew increasingly obnoxious the close they got to the room.

_"Malchior!"_

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "Shut the heck up!"_

* * *

**Me: Okay, now seems like as good a time as ever to end this chapter. I want to make these about medium length so that I can actually update this stuff at reasonable intervals instead of once a month… So yeah.**

**Malchior: Why do you like to name Vivosaurs after DC Comic characters?**

**Me: Why would I not?**

**Trigon: Seriously? Pft, whatever. Just as long as I'm as tough as my name is!**


	3. The Beginning of the Cup!

**Me: All right! Now that I've taken care of a lot of the super important dialogue (though there is a little bit left for this chapter), I can say right now that this Fanfiction will be breaking away from the normal stuff officially!**

**Malchior: Whatever. Just start writing.**

* * *

_"Well that was… Something."_

While Dina and Todd were both ecstatic to have been shown the Fossil Stadium, Malchior was left longing for something more. He had only been able to witness Vivosaurs fighting, not participate, and they were Water Vivosaurs. _Water_. He hated Water Vivosaurs. They were the most stuck up out of the five Elements.

_"You know I can hear everything you think, right?"_ Trigon grumbled, clearly offended. At this the Dimetrodon sighed.

_"You're the only good one, kid,"_ came the labored reply. It was probably the closest Malchior would ever come to being apologetic. Still, it was something. The Triceratops fell silent.

_"Are you finished?"_ Dina inquired after Malchior had been silent for a moment. A grouchy 'yes' was soon received over their mental connection. The blonde smiled. _"Good."_

"That's it for orientation," Stella spoke up, drawing Dina's thoughts away from her Vivosaurs. "You're now officially entered in the Caliosteo Cup! Each round your opponent will be chosen automatically with a computer, and you'll be paged by your- Oh, wait…"

Immediately the brunette jogged over to the receptionist's counter and grabbed a couple of things, then returned to Todd and Dina. She handed each of them a walkie-talkie type device designed to look like a dinosaur's head.

"Those are your Paleopagers. They'll let you know who your opponent is every round, and will tell you when dig sites open up at the end of every round. And another thing, do us all a favor and don't lose it."

Todd immediately looked over to Dina, who rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She had a bit of a reputation for losing things. In fact, had it not been for Malchior's ability to communicate with her mentally, she would have never found his Dino Medal after it fell underneath her bed.

_Beep-Boop-Beep!_

_ This is an important public-service announcement from Caliosteo Fossil Park. The Caliosteo Cup opening ceremony will commence shortly. All interested parties should meet in front of the Fighter Station._

_ Beep-Boop-Beep!_

_ "I'm glad they fixed that thing. My ears almost started bleeding last time,"_ Malchior added, his comment just as annoying as the noise before and after the latest announcement. Still, Dina had to agree with him just a little bit.

"Okay, that's my cue. Good luck, you two!" Stella grinned, turning and walking out of the building after doing so. Todd's eyes lit up at the thought of what could possibly be awaiting them outside.

"I bet the opening ceremony's gonna be awesome!" the brunette shouted excitedly. "Maybe Joe will show up!"

_"Oh, he will. Knowing Joe, he'll ride in on his Ptera thinking he's all that," _Malchior butted in, his insult actually making Dina more pumped to head outside. Without another thought, she shoved Todd out of the way and dashed past him.

"If he does, I'll see him first!"

"Hey! Wait up, Dina!"

Dina shot out the main door of the Fighter Station, a large smirk on her countenance as the doors slid shut in Todd's face. Sure they opened again a few seconds later; it was still funny to watch. However, with her eyes still focused on her friend, she failed to notice the silver haired boy standing in front of her. While still running full tilt she bowled him over, losing Malchior's Dino Medal in the process.

"Watch where you're going!" the red and white clad boy shouted, indignant. He pushed himself up to his feet, brushing off his clothes after doing so. Despite his anger, he still held out his hand to help her up. Embarrassed, Dina quickly to it and stood up.

"Sorry! I was just excited to get out here!" the blonde hastily apologized, causing the boy to roll his eyes. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Come off of it. Just watch where you're going from now on."

"Of course!"

Feeling rather awkward, Dina meandered away from the silver haired male. She then began to search for Todd, as for whatever reason he had not came to her upon exiting the Fighter Station.

_"Umm… Dina?"_ Trigon's slightly timid voice filled her mind, distracting her momentarily from the task at hand.

_"Yeah?"_

_ "We've lost Malchior."_

_"WHAT!?"_

Immediately Dina thrust her hands into her pockets, searching them thoroughly for both of her Dino Medals. Low and behold, only Trigon's was there. Completely forgetting about Todd, the blonde frantically began searching the ground for Malchior's Medal. Their bond wasn't strong enough for their mental connection to work once they were more than three feet apart.

Someone tapped on her shoulder. Dina spun around and froze when she saw who had done so.

Eloc.

His frozen blue eyes stared down at her from beneath his long bangs, giving him to constant appearance of being enraged. However, he seemed rather calm as he held out one of his hands to her. A red and white trimmed Dino Medal sat in it.

"This wouldn't happen to be yours by any chance, would it?" he inquired politely, his voice reaching a rather kind tone. Dina blinked a couple of times, surprised. From what she had seen, Eloc was quite the jerk , especially to Todd.

At the center of the Medal was the image of a DImetro, a strong indicator that this was Malchior's. However, she didn't want to take someone else's Dimetro, so she thought it would be a good idea to check.

_"Malchior, is that you?"_

_ "WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN!?"_

"Yep. He's mine. Thanks for finding him," Dina grinned nervously, taking the Medal from the older teen. He nodded, acknowledging her statement. After a few moments of awkward silence, he pointed to the left without even glancing in said direction.

"You're friend's over there, in case you were wondering," Eloc stated, his arm flopping back to his side once Dina had looked. Sure enough, Todd was standing around doing pretty much nothing. He didn't seem to notice his friend's absence.

"Oh. Thanks again."

"No problem."

With a quick nod in Eloc's direction, Dina turned and jogged over to her friend. Malchior mentally groaned (of course).

_"Why can't we go hang out with Eloc? He's much better than Todd."_

_ "Todd's my friend, that's why. Eloc's kind of a jerk, anyways."_

_ "I would have preferred if you had left me with him! He has a more powerful aura to him than you have."_

_ "That's nice."_

_ "Though he did smell strongly of Water Vivosaurs…"_

_ "Would you stop it with the Water Vivosaur insults!? You're an Elemental type racist! You're an… Elementist!"_ Trigon blurted out awkwardly. Dina could feel Malchior deadpan in response.

_"Is there something wrong with a _Fire_ Vivosaur not liking _Water_ Vivosaurs?" Malchior stated flatly, causing Trigon to burst out in laughter._

_ "You're just paranoid! Pwah ha ha!"_

After that, the pair began hurling insults back and forth. By then, Dina had arrived at Todd's location, so she simply tuned them out. Todd immediately turned his head and grinned at his friend.

"Oh, there you are Dina! I was wondering where you went," the brunette chirped, earning a sigh from Dina. He could be so oblivious at times.

"Suuuure you were," Dina replied, her brown eyes beginning to take in their surroundings. For an opening ceremony, there sure weren't a lot of people. Weird.

"I wish they would start already!" a girl directly to the right of them exclaimed. People around her chimed their agreement.

_"You and me both, sister," _Malchior snorted impatiently.

"I've got a fever, and the only cure is more digging!" an older boy added in jokingly. Laughter ensued from his surrounding friends.

"Ooh! I'm so excited! What kind of battles do you think we'll see today?" Another person squealed to one of their friends.

_"You'll see a lot of bloody battles courtesy of me,"_ Malchior grinned. Trigon rolled his eyes.

_"Don't rip other Vivosaurs apart and give the kids nightmares, Malchior," _the triceratops scolded him.

_ "Whatever."_

"Hey, look!" Todd shouted, his arm whipping up to point at a giant, flying TV screen with three speakers hooked up to it. Its massive form cast a large shadow over the crowd. "Something's flying this way!"

By now everyone was facing towards the flying monitor. With a flash on the screen, an image of Joe Wildwest appeared, a microphone in his hand. The crowd broke out in cheers at this.

"Welcome to the Caliosteo Fossil Park…" Joe began, seemingly pausing for effect. "The place where dreams are made!"

"I'm the owner of this here park!" At this point, he gestured to himself, "The name's Joe Wildwest!"

"You Fighters'll love it here! We got three islands to explore!" Dina's eyes shone with excitement at the statement. So many places to dig and venture into! Imagine the possibilities!

"Now get ready for a surprise! 'Cause I want y'all to know that… The Cup Champion'll get my park! You'll own her free and clear!"

_"WHAT!?" _Malchior screeched, sounding like he was the most shocked out of their group. Even Todd and Dina, who were floored as it was, had nothing on him. _"Since when was this happening!? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Giving away the Fossil Park… How the heck would a kid be able to manage such an expensive business? I mean seriously!"_

_ "Malchior, can you do us all a favor and stop being such a Negative Nancy?"_ Trigon interrupted the ranting Dimetro, earning an enraged growl. Both Vivosaurs went silent. Well, Dina assumed they had stopped talking. It was hard to tell over the sudden ecstatic cheers that overtook the crowd.

"So let's get to battlin' folks! The Caliosteo Cup is now… OPEN!"

Once again, hoots and hollers overtook all other noises in the area. Now that the message was finished, the TV screen began to fly away. The screams quieted down much faster than last time, and Todd was able to start talking in a normal voice rather quickly.

"Man, just seeing Joe's face on that awesome video display was so exciting!" Todd squealed, his blue eyes sparkling with energy. Dina grinned and nodded in agreement, snickering as her friend began to jump up and down. Once he had calmed down, Todd cleared his throat and acted as though his 'fanboy' moment had not just happened. "But seriously. The Cup's grand prize is this entire fossil park. My mind is completely blown here. This is huge, Dina. We have to find a way to win, not matter what!"

"Agreed!" Dina chimed, throwing a fist into the air. Todd followed suit, and the pair broke out in laughter.

_"Not agreed! This sounds like a bad idea!" _Malchior argued, his voice filled with anxiety. He had wanted to fight so badly before, but now… He hadn't remembered Joe planning that originally. Well, the Cup plans were still in progress when he had been owned by Joe, but he knew his ex-Fighter very well.

_"Ignored!"_ Dina chirped to her Dimetro, earning an enraged snarl in response. He went silent once again, which the blonde took as a sign that he had gone to mope.

"Hello, Todd. Hello, Dina. The Cup is finally under way," Stella grinned as she walked up to Todd and Dina.

"Oh, hey, Stella!" Todd chirped in reply, turning and waving at Stella after doing so. The staff leader shot them a confused look upon reaching them.

"Why aren't you two off digging fossil rocks yet?" she inquired, receiving blank stares from the duo. The brunette sighed. "You should have received a message on your Paleopagers by now."

"Ooh!" Dina exclaimed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her Paleopager. "That's what was vibrating! I thought Malchior was just ticked off at me or something! That makes a LOT more sense."

The Paleopager seemed to be playing the message on loop, so Dina had to listen to '-nd 1 of the Cup' before the actual message made it through.

"The first dig site, Treasure Lake, has opened. Fighters are urged to travel there and ready for Round 1 of the Cup."

"For future reference, you should probably take those off of vibrate," Stella advised. Both teens immediately switched their devices off said function and put them away.

"All right! We're really gonna do this!" Todd shouted, spinning around. He froze immediately and began to look around. "H-hey! Everyone's gone! We just got here and we're already behind!"

"Actually, everyone's not gone," Dina pointed out before motioning behind her, "Eloc's standing right over there."

Todd peered past his friend, his curiosity getting the best of him. Sure enough, there stood the ill-tempered teen who vaguely reminded him of Malchior. Well, he reminded him of the description of Malchior Dina had given him. There was just one thing Todd was wondering…

"Aren't you gonna go dig fossils?" the brunette yelled over to the other male, his previous paranoia forgotten. He earned a shrug in reply.

"Maybe later. Why's it matter?" A glare was shot in Todd's direction that quickly silenced him and sent him into a frenzied state. He took off running away from the group, causing Stella to groan and point in the opposite direction Todd was heading in.

"Treasure Lake is through that walkway there!"

"Oh! Thanks Stella!"

The two females sweat-dropped as Todd pivoted around on his foot and dashed towards the correct path. He pushed his way past a staff member before disappearing from their view.

"You know, I'm actually shocked Joe would do something like that," Stella spoke up after a few moments of silence. The younger girl blinked out of confusion and looked up to her.

"Do something like what?"

"You know, giving the park away?" she explained, earning a loud 'ooh!' from Dina. "None of the staff knew he was putting up the park as a prize. Not even me."

At this, Dina broke out in sniggers. From the sounds of it, the Ribular Island staff leader had a rather _close_ relationship with Joe. When Stella sent a puzzled glance down to her, Dina burst out in full on laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"N-nothing. Continue with what you were saying earlier."

"Never mind that. You have bigger things to worry about right now," Stella waved dismissively, a smile replacing her serious demeanor. "Good luck with the Cup, Dina."

"Thanks! Good luck with keeping the Island in order!" Dina replied as she turned and jogged over to the entrance to Treasure Lake. She stopped abruptly when she heard the Staff member Todd had pushed by muttering to herself.

"…Oh, no. He's gone already." She groaned and turned around, only to come face to face with Dina. The redhead blinked a couple of times before it seemed to register that the blonde was actually there. "Wait! You haven't received your Fossil Sonar yet, have you? Well, you're not going to find any fossil rocks without it."

She reached into a large brown pack resting on her shoulder and pulled out a small machine, handing it to Dina. The brown eyed teen scrutinized it for a moment before placing it in her bag.

"I tried to stop that boy who ran ahead of you, but he moved like his pants were on fire," she muttered flatly half to herself, half to Dina. The blonde sweat-dropped as she realized who she was talking about.

"Yeah… Sorry about that. He was too scared to worry about listening," the blue clad girl laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck. The staff member moved her gaze down to Dina upon hearing this.

"Oh, he's your friend? Well, that's convenient. Let's go give him his sonar together, shall we?"

"Sounds like a plan!"

* * *

The two entered the dig site only to be welcomed by the sight of Todd running back and forth like a madman, screaming as though he was talking to some random voice in his head. In truth, Dina was tempted to pull out her phone and record it. So she did.

"Stupid fossil rocks! Come on! Where are you?!" the brunette screamed, earning snickers from Dina as her recording continued on for a few more minutes. The staff leader nudged her with her elbow, causing Dina to clear her throat suddenly and end the video.

"Right, help Todd first, embarrass him later."

_"Wow. Talk about an oxymoron,"_ Trigon laughed.

_"Did you just call me a moron?!" _Dina shot back mentally, making her Tricera cringe.

_"What!? N-no! Of course not!"_

_ "That's what I thought."_

"Hey, Todd!"

The green-clad boy stopped mid-step and turned towards Dina. He was beginning to appear tuckered out.

"What?" he panted, staggering over to his friend. Before Dina could reply, the staff member tossed Todd his Sonar. He yelped and dove forward to catch it only to face-plant and have the object bounce off of his head. The brunette moaned as he pushed himself up to his feet and picked up the item. "OW! What the heck, guys?!"

"You won't find anything without a Fossil Sonar!" the staff member exclaimed as Todd rubbed his head tentatively. He glared at her for a moment, but the look he got in return immediately caused him to cringe and avert his gaze to the side, whistling innocently. "I tried to give it to you earlier, but you shoved past me and ran off!"

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"…But that's Okay. I know you're just excited about the cup."

"Well… thanks?"

"You're welcome."

The staff member then turned and left without another word. Luckily, both Todd and Dina already knew how to use their new Sonar, so it wasn't a huge problem. However, the two were still left speechless for a couple of minutes afterwards.

"Todd?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are so good at making people mad?"

"I dunno. My Mom says I get it from my Dad."

* * *

** Woohoo! Chapter 3! I'm not a failure!**

** Sorry if these are a little short. I feel like all of the improv. helps take up space. Though that would technically make it filler… Anyways, I'll try to make things more eventful from now on! There will definitely be Fossil Battles in the next chapter, so don't worry!**

**Malchior: Finally! I get to rip someone's head off!**

**Trigon: Why are you so violent!?**


End file.
